More than twice as many voters cast in-person absentee ballots on the first day of early voting for Wisconsin’s April 1 elections compared to the spring elections held two years ago, with students leading voter turnout.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission reported that 34,036 in-person ballots were cast Tuesday, a 121% jump from the 15,435 in-person ballots received on the first day of early voting for the higher court election in 2023.
On Tuesday, Dane, Milwaukee and Waukesha counties led the rest of the state in absentee ballots returned on the first day of early voting.
Dane County, residence of Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, reported 11,784 in-person absentee ballots, 39% higher than in the 2023 race. Milwaukee County was close behind, with 11,143 ballots cast — a 32% increase from two years ago. Finally, Waukesha County, home to challenger Brad Schimel, has reported 9,867 absentee ballots so far, marking a 50% increase from 2023.
In Madison, students lead the charge in voter turnout.
The first day of early voting on Tuesday set a city record in Madison with 2,453 in-person voters, and nearly 25% of those votes came from polling locations on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
The polling stations frequented by students saw substantial turnout with 175 voters from Union South and 55 from the Health Sciences Learning Center. But the highest voter turnout was seen at Memorial Union with 348 people, the second-highest turnout location for the entire city of Madison.
District 8 Ald. MGR Govindarajan told The Daily Cardinal the early voting turnout led by students is promising for the city’s overall turnout.
“It really shows that students are leading the pack here,” Govindarajan said. “Young people are the ones who are turning out and voting every single time without fail, and that's what is making the election go one way or another.”
Early voting for the April 1 election will continue until March 31. On-campus locations at Memorial Union and Health Sciences are open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. — and the Union South location from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. — through March 28.
